Let us now draw our attention to the leadership of our churches here in America. In the face of a national crisis, which the murder of innocent school children certainly is, we should expect our Christian leaders to rise to the forefront in the fight against such heinous acts.

Appreciatively, many of the mainline denominations were swift to respond to the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, which was reassuring to many.

While all of this is good, what they all have in common is that they are reactive responses to the violence that has already occurred. In other words, they’re too late!

This level of violence is interwoven with America’s steep spiritual decline, and as such must be met head on with our spiritual leaders LEADING a proactive charge.

Columbine, Sandy Hook, Orlando, Las Vegas, Texas, all of these horrific acts of extreme violence fade quickly from our memory. To be sure, these events shock us, bring us to tears, make us angry, and cause us to point our collective fingers at what we perceive to be the cause.

They do everything except cause us to change on the inside.

Where is the leadership in our churches collectively calling for repentance? Why don’t our leaders issue a call to adhere to 2nd Chronicles 7:14?

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

How is it that our church leaders can rail against the government, against gun manufacturers, against nearly everything except for SIN?

The problem as I see it that our Church Leadership seems more apt to jump on the bandwagon of blame, rather than lead the spiritual initiatives required to combat this issue.

Recently, I read a Tweet from one of the “rising young stars” in the Charismatic church who declared that he was angry at the Congress and angry at the President for not doing something to stop all this gun violence.

Well my brother, I’m so glad you said that because I feel like you should be angry. I’m angry too. Only, be sure you direct your anger in the right direction.

That’s right, I said it.

Before we blame the President and the Congress, the NRA, or the Conservatives or the Liberals, we need to step back and review what our church’s leaders have done to stem the tide.

For example, it shouldn’t be too hard to add up all the hours we leaders have spent on our faces before God pleading for the soul of this nation, should it? I mean, that is part of OUR responsibility, isn’t it?

And no, Facebook and Twitter “I’m praying for you” prayers do not count. I’m talking about the kind of praying that has all but been forgotten in our churches. The kind of praying that requires we first repent of our own apostasy before we call upon a Holy God.

And it should be real easy to add up how many meals we’ve fasted as we assail the throne of God on behalf of our children, shouldn’t it? That is what real men and women of God do, isn’t it?

I mean, if we’re going to blame someone else we ought to make sure our own house is in order, shouldn’t we? That is how this is supposed to work, is it not?

From where I sit on the front row, I am appalled at how carnal we church leaders have become. We wring our hands along with the rest of the nation, while God waits patiently for someone to “lay hold of the altar”, or to “stand in the gap” for this nation and its children.

Surely, the constant pleas from the grief-stricken parents should be enough to motivate us and drive us to our knees!

I can’t help but wonder however, how much longer God will withhold his rod of judgement. And just to be clear, the rod of judgement will be used first in the house of God.

America’s church leaders are not innocent bystanders in the battle against the forces of darkness that are attacking our children. Far from it. We church leaders have blood on our hands just as any other watchman who fails to sound the alarm.

In the 4th and final installment of the series “And we wonder why”, I’m going to address the question of “what has changed?”

Recently, I watched a YouTube video produced by a church in Kentucky that featured a number of people giving their reasons why they had given up on the Church.

Listening to these heartbreaking stories, it quickly became apparent that there is a common theme among all of them. For these people, they believe the church has failed to reach them where they live.

The Church has stopped being the Church.

Tales of judgement and condemnation, outright rejection, and worse have left these people doubting whether there is any validity to Christianity. I mean, just imagine how you would feel if you had invited your family to your baptismal service only to be told by the pastor that “he forgot about it”.

The Church is the Body of Christ here on earth.

Do we truly understand what that means, or do we blindly accept the statement as just another one of those religious sayings?

The Church is made up of Christ’s representatives on earth. If that is the case, how representative of Christ are we when our primary purpose is to hand out judgment? How well are we representing Jesus when our churches are known as places of condemnation instead of love?

Speaking with those outside the Church, we hear that our churches have become places of rejection for all who do not look or act the part. Seriously, how many of our churches actually reflect the community in which they reside?

Much to the angst of many, I as well as a few others have been saying for some time now that the Church is broken. It is broken because those who are supposed to be the leaders of it do not know Him. If they knew Him they would go beyond the four walls of their castles and see how much hurt there is in their community.

And they would do something about it.

They most certainly would be a part of the solution, not the problem.

Because LOVE is the greatest motivator of all.

If they knew Him they would reach out, not with angry words of criticism and judgement, but in compassion and LOVE.

Ah yes…Love.

What if our churches actually believed and practiced LOVE?

‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

What if our churches actually believed and practiced this?

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

What if our churches actually believed and practiced this?

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.’ I Cor.13:1-3

What if…

What if the Church got back to being Christ’s representatives here on earth?

Here’s what I think would happen if the Church did this.

There would be a huge reduction in the problems that currently plague our society. Drug abuse, hunger, crime, divorce, abuse of all types, all would see a dramatic reduction if the Church got back to being the hands and feet of Jesus.

What if the Church somehow rediscovered the courage to LOVE those in our communities who are hopelessly trapped on the outside looking in?

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you no doubt are aware that there is a total solar eclipse coming to most of North America next Monday, August 21st.

While these events are special and very interesting to watch, I am always amazed at the number of prophecy prognosticators who use these NORMAL events to announce that the world is coming to an end.

I mean, seriously? Are Christians so illiterate concerning the scriptures that they actually believe that these NORMAL events are a sign of the end? Or am I in the minority in thinking this way? After all, we already know when these NORMAL events are going to occur for the next ten years!

Some prophecy “experts” are claiming that the coming eclipse is a warning of God’s impending judgement. In light of that, here’s a question for those that believe this. Do we in America need to see a solar eclipse as proof of God’s impending judgement upon us? Are we saying that unless the stars and moon align perfectly we will not believe that we need to repent? Is that what we’re saying?

What a shame, if indeed that is the case. The last time I checked, the Bible included many such warnings to repent and turn back to God. That’s right, it’s written in books like Matthew, Luke, Daniel, Ezekiel, 1st and 2nd Timothy, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians…..

Maybe if instead of hyping these NORMAL events as a sign of impending doom,what should happen is the prophecy seekers get out of the sun and into the Son.

One thing’s for certain: we can stare at the sun, the moon, and the stars until we’re blinded by it all. Meanwhile, back here on earth society is crumbling before our very eyes.

My last post in this series ended by asking “what nation would ever turn its back God”?

Today’s post will focus on both the identity of the nation, as well as the “blame game” being played regarding responsibility for what is taking place in America today.

Before I delve into this, I want to state up front that in no way am I trying to convince anyone that the problems that have befallen us are either simplistic or easy to fix. My goal with this series is simple: identify the root of the problem, and then point out the obvious (to me) solution.

As to the question “what nation would turn its back on God”, the answer is painfully obvious: that nation is America. Just as Nathan the prophet said to David “you are the man” when exposing his great sin, so it is that America is being systematically exposed as the nation that has forsaken its God.

The parallel between America and ancient Israel is unmistakable. The simple table below highlights just as few examples:

Though America’s approach is a subtle one, there can be no doubt that we are following in the footsteps of ancient Israel, allowing ourselves to become ensnared in a noose from which there is no escape. Just as Israel could not escape their coming judgement, neither shall we.

From a Christian point of view, I am dumbfounded that we are seemingly blind to this. Oh, for sure there are voices out there that say they know that things are not right, that they believe we are going the wrong direction as a nation. But they are painfully few and far between.

What I cannot fathom, in light of what should be so obvious, is the relative silence from God’s people! Where is the moral outrage? Instead of righteous indignation and contempt, instead of a cry from our denominational leaders for a day of fasting and repentance, what usually comes from the Christian camp is silence.

Or even worse, blame.

The Church has fallen headlong into the same mindset as the world, which is it’s easier to affix blame than it is to acknowledge the truth. And the truth, I’m afraid, is very, very ugly! Acknowledgment of the truth, you see, negates our pleas of ignorance.

There is a fundamental problem with the Church looking to assign blame for the despair that prevails in America today. That is not the responsibility of the Church, yet we have permitted ourselves to jump on the blame bandwagon so that we can attempt to defend our positions!

The Left blames the Right. The Right blames the Left. And so it goes. As long as we can assign blame to one group or another we feel content in our smug self-righteousness that THEY are the problem!

Let’s throw away our cloaks of pretense and disguise, shall we? I’ve been saying for a long time on this blog that we in America have a “God problem”. Yes indeed, our problem has become what to do about God, for we certainly don’t want Him any longer!

In part 3 of this series I will show you how that America’s “God problem” is so firmly entrenched as to be all but impossible to reverse. You will see that God is no longer part of the solution in the minds of America’s leaders. He has actually become part of their problem!

Be blessed,

Ron

Advertisements

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.